The missing piece
by Sonslover101
Summary: When Liv and Elliot's relationship is suddenly missing something, they find it in the eyes of a yound girl. Sophie, their missing piece.
1. Chapter 1

Liv sat there deep in thought, trying to figure out the latest case. It was one of those cases that the killer had thought of everything. Condom, acid, gloves, everything. Suddenly a movement caught liv's eye. It was Elliot. He got up from his chair and looked over at her. She smiled pensively, still drowned in her musings. " you ready to go?" He said, watching her. " uh yeah, just let me log out.

The drive home was quiet. Liv sat there again deep in thought. Elliot was worried about her, the only thing she seemed to care about anymore was work. Of course it's okay for work to be your life, or what makes you happy, but for liv it was literally her life, and it was starting to get in the way of their relationship. It surprised him when suddenly she opened her mouth. " El?" "what baby" " I have an appointment this weekend, will you take me while my cars being fixed?"

" of course"

Of course, he'd expected it to maybe be some sort of normal life talk, like how was your day? Or guess what happened?. But no, just an appointment. They walked in the house and the silence of the place was almost overwhelming. Liv went into the bedroom to take a shower, as elliot ordered chinese over the phone.

They sat there eating their meal quietly, just like every night. The only words spoken were the simple "hand me a napkin" and "thanks" They went into the bedroom, fairly early. Elliot went into reading his book, and Liv finished her work on her laptop. After an hour or so, Liv simply said "night" and turned over.

Something had to change, he thought. This was every night now, barely speaking, almost acting bored with the relationship. He knew something had to change, he just didn't know what.


	2. Chapter 2

Elliot woke up to an empty bed. He got up, put his slippers on and looked around the house. "What are you doing up so early" he spun around to see Liv sitting at the counter,staring at him.

"Oh, I was just looking for you" she looked back at her work. " any thing on the case?" He tried to sound as interested as her. Of course he was interested in his work, it was just hard to care as much as Liv did. " just that the victim had a distinct tattoo on her arm that 2 other girls in new york city have." " well that's something"

As they walked into the bullpen they were not surprised to see it full of chaos. Fin talking nervously on the phone, Captain Cragen yelling at some poor new kid who was clearly overwhelmed, and just people running everywhere.

Yet all of that seemed to fade away, and all Liv could see was a young girl sitting at the far end of the bullpen. Liv walked over to her, and looked in the young girls eyes. She couldn't have been more than 16. She had blue innocent eyes, and long blonde hair. As she looked she felt cragen grab her arm and pull her into his office. "Okay lieutenant, sorry about all of the hustle and bustle, everybody's finally piecing together the case, thanks to you." "but anyway, I don't have much for you today. Just if you could talk to that girl out there, she asked to speak with someone and has been waiting there." " did she say anything about why she's here?" "nope" Cragen left her with that.

Liv shut the door to her office and sat down, looking at the young girl across from her. " so, I'm Olivia Benson, and i'm here to help you with whatever you need. What's your name?" "Sophie" she said in an almost whisper. "Ok, and why did you come in here today?" The young girl looked up and croaked " well, I don't want to make a big deal out of it in case i'm being dramatic, but my dad has been… well… innapropriate with me lately." Liv's heart fell as she knew what the girl was saying. "Ok, can you tell me what specifically?" " well, it started with making just weird comments, like saying I looked good in my jeans, or that I was lookin' good. But then one day he slapped my butt as we were walking out the door. And it just kept going, he'd "accidentally" bump into me and hit my boob." Liv sat there a moment. "Ok, and tell me, did he ever try to rape you?" As she said it she realized she could have said it in a bit nicer way. "No, but if we don't do something I think he will." Liv thought her next words carefully. "So what was it that made you think today was the day you had to come here?" "well, last night he hit my butt, and my mom saw. And she just sat there. He did it again, and still she did nothing. I knew I had to come in because if something happens and she doesn't do anything, who knows what he will do."

Liv knew what to do, she'd seen things like this a million times in her career. "Ok, well what we are going to is first file a restraining order, so that he can't go near you until we figure out what the permanent solution will be" Sophie looked at the officer, and said with a tear welling up in her eye " Am I going to have to go to foster care? I am close with the rest of my family, I can't not see them." Liv's eyes welled up a bit too. " no, no we will make sure you have a place to stay that you will be comfortable in, and you will see your family."

Liv knew as she was saying it that she had no idea how she'd be able to do that. And then it popped like a bubble in her mind. She led the girl over to the breakroom and had her sit there while she went to talk to Cragen. "Sir, I talked to her. And I was wondering what the rules are about fostering a victim." She was ready to hear him say god are you out of your mind? But he didn't. Instead he looked up at her, breathed in, and said " If you get consent from a family member, and the child chooses that option, it is fine." Liv stared blankly at him, wondering how he'd just said yes. "Ok, thank you captain."

Sophie was ecstatic over hearing that she would be staying in her hometown, and be with the people she loved. There was just one thing, Liv didn't really ask Elliot what he thought about it...


	3. Chapter 3

When Elliot got home that night, he heard something pleasant. Liv's laughter. But then he heard another laugh, unknown to him. He walked into the living room to see Liv and Sophie playing apples to apples, and laughing at each others responses."Liv who is this?" He said in a polite tone. "Elliot, this is Sophie. She will be staying here for a little bit until we find a family member for her to stay with." she smiled at him, "sorry I know I didn't talk to you first." "no it's totally fine, it's nice to hear you laughing" he winked at her and sat down.

The oven dinged and Liv got up to get the pizza. As she set it down on the counter she saw the two of them talking about sports, and laughing as they played the game. It was a perfect picture in olivia's mind. It was such a beautiful moment, but the moment was suddenly ruined as Olivia found herself having to hold back vomit. She went into the bathroom, and did what she needed to do. She sat there for a minute thinking to herself. "Oh god I can't be sick, not right now. We are finally getting somewhere on this case, and there is just too much going on. Ugghh." Elliot knocked lightly on the door, and she let him in."hey are you ok? Come here." He held out his arms and she gladly walked into his embrace. " uggghh, I'll call cragen and tell him I'll be out tomorrow. But you'll have to work double then." "ok babe, whatever you need."

"Ok Sophie, This is the guest bedroom, we have the bathroom right there, and a closet right there. And we'll be down the hall if you need anything" "ok, thank you so much" Sophie said, as she crawled into the bed. " of course! Good night"

The next day as Elliot went off to work Liv decided to make breakfast for Sophie. She felt oddly better today, but Cragen wouldn't let her come in. She cracked the eggs into the bowl, and one by one layed out the pieces of bacon. She heard the shuffling of feet. "Good morning" she said to the still very tired Sophie. " ugh, good morning. I know this is a weird question but is there a chance you have any… uh.. You know lady products?" Liv laughed "oh ye- Liv's heart skipped a beat as her brain raced. Was it monday? Last week? This week? No… she thought to herself. "Is everything ok?" Sophie asked. Liv quickly got her what she needed and sat down for breakfast. After breakfast Sophie went to take a shower, and Liv went to check the calendar. What she surprised her. She was right. "How could I have not noticed?" she thought. Maybe she'd been so busy with work that she just wasn't paying attention or thinking about it.

She knew she had some in the house somewhere, from when she was younger and took things like sex less seriously. She just couldn't remember where. Oh! They are in the guest bathroom… "hey Sophie? I'm just grabbing something real quick. The curtain covered everything so Liv knew she had nothing to worry about. She grabbed to box, and tried to be as quiet as possible on her way out. "By the way. What's with the pregnancy tests down there? I saw those and thought it was funny you had them in a guest bathroom." she laughed, "what kind of guests do you have?" Olivia laughed and walked out of the room. She set the test on the counter when she was done and tried to pretend it was nothing. Oh god she couldn't be, not now. There was so much going on at work and it was just not a good time.

The timer on her phone went off and she looked at it. And looked at it again...


	4. Chapter 4

As she sat there looking at it, she was overwhelmed with feelings. She didn't want to be, but at the same time she was realizing now that maybe she had? The excitement told her that. But she still didn't know what to do or feel.

She called Elliot and told him right away, she wasn't going to be one of those people who acts as if it's the biggest deal to everyone and tell them all seperately and wait to tell the most important person in her life.

He picked up on the third ring, and she could tell he was in a good mood. "Hey baby, what's up?" "Umm, okay i'm not going to waste any time I guess, but I just took a test, and it's positive, so there's a pretty good chance we are having a baby."

Silence. "Babe?" more silence. "Oh god i'm so sorry, I don't how this happ-" "stop babe, it's fine. I just didn't know what to say because I didn't know how you felt about it. If i'm being honest i'm happy." " Oh. well, I think I am too… I'm still kind of deciding I guess." "what was your first reaction to the test?" She breathed in, " Happiness." After a minute he said " well I think we know what this means. You say the word and we can do whatever you want to do about this. I love you." " I love you too honey."

She knew she had to schedule an appointment to be sure, so she called the doctor, and Elliot took the next day of work off. The next day they told Sophie they were going to meet with some friends, and headed out.

The amount of children in the room was incredible. The waiting area was just filled with them. Toddlers running around playing tag, newborns being cradled by their mothers, and babies putting things in their mouths they shouldn't be.

Liv was suddenly a bit more overwhelmed. She hadn't really thought about what this all meant for her life, for her and Elliot. As she sat there thinking nurse called out Benson! "This is it!" Elliot said.

The nurse talked about all sorts of things, even before she was able to find out if she truly was pregnant. Insurance, was the most talked about. She then gave her a cup to pee into, and Liv went to do as told. If Liv was right, she missed it twice, meaning she was around 3 months. Hopefully if it was she'd be able to get an ultrasound to see the baby.

She came back and the nurse went to get the test results. She and Elliot sat there a minute, just holding hands and talking about their excitement. After a few minutes the nurse came back and sat down. The look on her face scared olive, she didn't look like someone who was about to share good news.

"Well, I have some news you guys, you are having a baby!" Liv teared up and held Elliots hand tighter. "But there is something you must know." oh god, liv thought. " this pregnancy could be harmful to you Miss Benson, there are signs of a very common thing where the mother develops symptoms such as cramps, back pain, and bleeding. It's not harmful to the baby unless you don't do as told. You will need to take it down a few notches on the exercise scale, and slow down at work. No running, or speed walking. When you start feeling cramps you must sit down right away, and later in your pregnancy you may have to be put on bedrest."

It was a lot of information for Liv. But she should have expected something like this, her mother had 2 stillbirths, and her sister 12 miscarriages. She took in the information, and then reminded herself that she was still incredibly lucky.

On the way home Elliot was the first to talk. " so what do you think?" Liv exhaled deeply. " well I don't know… It's kind of a lot you know." "yeah, I get it. Let me know if you need me." She scoffed " well babe she said I'm not going to have any symptoms for a while." He looked at her " I don't mean with your symptoms, I mean if you're having a hard time with this, i'm here for you…"


	5. Chapter 5

When they got home Sophie was sitting on the couch watching tv. "Hey sweetie!" Liv shouted to her from the kitchen. "How were your friends?" Liv looked at Elliot and smiled. "Well honey…" she started as she walked and sat down next to her. "We actually just went to the doctors office, and we found out i'm having a baby!" Sophie smiled at her. "Wow, congratulations that's awesome!" Liv was beaming. " I know i'm so excited!" "is that why you went into the bathroom the other day, and why you were sick?" "haha! I forgot about that, hey El, I went in there to get a test while she was in the shower and she asked me why I had tests in there." He laughed. "So how far along are you?" "well the doctor said I'm about 3 months." Sophie thought about it for a second. "Wow, that's pretty far along to be just finding out" Liv knew this was true.

"Well anyway, I'm really happy for you guys" Liv hugged Sophie. "Aww, thanks dear." They talked a bit more about it, and Liv explained that she would be around the house more often because of her restrictions. After a while Liv said "So, what do you want for dinner? Maybe we could go out!"

"Ooooh, can we go to that chinese place down the road? Chinese is my favorite." Liv smiled " shut up! It's my favorite too! Absolutely, let me get dressed." As Liv got up to change, Sophie looked at Elliot. "So, how do you feel about it?" He thought about it for a minute. " I'm happy, don't get me wrong… I'm just nervous about how Liv will deal with it. She's never really been with young kids, or babies for that matter. And I am also scared of having to watch her deal with all these symptoms the doctor talked about." She looked at him. "I get it, I thought about that too. She doesn't really strike me as a baby person either, I think she's better with kids my age."

Liv walked back in and had changed into some nicer clothes. "Ready to go" she said with a smile. "Yeah!"

The place was packed for a tuesday night. People were so loud too. Liv was thankful her baby hadn't grown ears yet, because hers were certainly ringing. The meal they had was delicious, and Sophie and Liv bonded over their love of chinese food. "I've always wanted to go to china, mostly for the sights, but also just to see if what we have here is authentic" Liv laughed "yeah, I'd really love to go to china too, but you know where I've always wanted to go?" As if by some miracle they both said it at the same time "paris" Liv and Sophie looked at eachother in awe. "You want to go to paris?" Liv said. "I've always dreamed of seeing the eiffel tower, and just being in such a beautiful place." Liv suddenly had a new respect for the maturity Sophie had. " It's been my dream since I was little" Liv said with that sparkle in her eye Elliot loved to see.

When they got back home they decided to watch a movie. "Oohh Elf!" Elliot yelled "noo, let's watch anchorman!" Liv bellowed. "I'm agreeing with her, it's a better and funnier movie" Sophie squeaked. " yeah Elliot" Liv said, laughing.

When the movie started Liv scooched closer to Elliot and held his hand, as Sophie rested her head on Liv's shoulder. As they sat there watching the movie and laughing together, Elliot couldn't help but think to himself, "so this is what family looks like." He couldn't figure out just what it was, but something had filled in their puzzle.


	6. Chapter 6

Elliot woke up to something wet on the bed. Liv was in the bathroom. At first he didn't really think much. But then he started realizing that wet was not a good thing. His mind went racing. What the hell? How does that? 3 months? "Hey babe?" Elliot yelled with a sense of urgency. Liv walked out of the bathroom fanning herself. "What" she said almost exasperated. " why is the bed wet?" he said confused. " ugh, I've been sweating for like 3 hours and I can't sleep"

He felt his heart rise from his stomach back to his chest. He exhaled deeply. "Woooh, ok good." In the morning Elliot awoke to his panting wife, and about 5 fans going. "Uh, babe?" Liv didn't even bother to turn over. "What?" " what's going on?" " I told you, I'm Hot!" she wasn't necessarily angry, just a little annoyed. "Ok, well is there anything I can do to help?" "yeah, get away from me, you're making this bed ten times hotter." He chuckled "well they do say I have that effect on people" Liv tried to supress a laugh. " haha, now go, I don't think it's ok to lose this much water from the human body."

When Liv finally came out, she surprised Elliot by asking for some eggs. She hadn't been able to hold down most food in the morning. It wasn't morning sickness, It was just that She usually got sick towards the afternoon, or in the middle of the night. So after throwing up so much, her appetite was usually ruined. But today she wanted eggs, and eggs she shall get.

Sitting at the table, she devoured her eggs in about two seconds, and then plainly asked for more. "Uh, sure babe" Elliot whipped up another batch, slightly confused. "Thanks babe!" she said as he handed them to her. MMMMMMM was all he heard. "Somebody's hungry today" Elliot said. "Yeah, and that somebody is not me." Liv laughed. "Ahh, and I'm guessing it was the baby who ate all the cheese last night too, huh?" liv smirked. "Maybe" she said.

At work that day they were working on some pretty easy cases. Just a few homicides, rapes, and for some reason a drive-by. So no big deal. Elliot looked over and saw Olivia deep in thought. "Whatcha thinking about?" Liv snapped out of it. "Oh, I was just thinking about what we are going to have for dinner tonight. We could do that chicken, ooh or steak!" The excitement on her face made Elliot laugh. "Whatever you want babe." \

At lunch Elliot made his way over to the breakroom. Liv stood there in front of the vending machine, clearly trying to pick something. "Having a hard time there?" he joked. "Shut up El, I need another quarter and I get 2 bags of chips. He handed one to her and laughed. "So you really are hungry lately huh?" She looked at him and said "well, I AM eating for two now, so yes."

He laughed and watched her walk back out into the bullpen. He might have been joking around and all, but he was really happy that she was his. He might not say it all that often, but he knew how lucky he was. He knew it everyday. When she kissed him, said she loved him, held him, even just looked at him with those loving eyes, he knew it.


	7. Chapter 7

Today was a particularly hot day for new york city, and everyone felt it. Fin sat on the phone trying not to cuss at the woman on the phone. Cragen sat in his office typing as beads of sweat formed on his forehead. But the one who felt it most of all was of course Liv.

Elliot looked over to see her almost panting, clearly trying to cool down. "Hey babe?" she turned "ugh, what?" He laughed at her facial expression. "Hot?" "don't mess with me! I have 3 ½ month old baby inside of me making me sick constantly, and it's…" She checked the thermometer "97 out!" Elliot laughed, "well babe, what do you say we go grab some ice cream?'

Of course the ice cream was nice, but it only helped a little. Liv sat there indulging in her ice cream as Elliot amusedly watched her. He looked down to see her happily cradling her stomach. "What?" she said, clearly noticing his glance. "Nothing, it's just cute how much of a mom you are" She scoffed, "oh shut up, I didn't even realize I was doing it." He smiled. "So when is the next appointment?" She looked at her phone. "Next week, don't forget to take the day off."

They got home that night to an oddly quiet house. Just as Elliot was about to yell Sophie's name, they heard a noise. Breathing. They looked into the living room to see her cuddled up on the couch fast asleep.

"Aww, she's cold" Liv said, covering her up with a blanket. "And you don't think you're a mom!"

Elliot laughed. Liv stared at the young girl, taking in all of her features. She had such beautiful eyes, it was a shame they were closed. "Alright, well I'll start on dinner." Liv broke the pasta and placed in the pot. At the same time Elliot went to take a shower.

After a few minutes Liv heard stirring in the living room. Sophie came in to the kitchen, and suddenly Liv noticed something she hadn't before. Before she had the chance to say anything Sophie was resting her head on her shoulder, deep in her embrace. "Why were you crying, honey?" Sophie could barely get the words out. "I miss my friends, and my family." it took all Liv had not to cry. "Ok honey, let's have some of your friends over, and maybe we could see your family this weekend?"

Sophie was still in Liv's arms, and she barely whispered "thank you." Liv felt her heart drop at the young girls pain. She knew it must be hard to not see your family or friends. She felt Sophie squeeze her tighter as her tears started to fall.

A few hours later Sophie's best friend Emily arrived. Emily was the one who had been facetiming her every night to make sure she was ok, and let her know she was there for her. She ran in the door and gave Sophie a bear hug. "I missed you so much bud!" Sophie laughed, and said "haha, since when are you all lovey dovey?" "since I haven't seen my best friend in over 3 weeks!"

"So, how long have you guys been friends?" Elliot asked. "Well," Emily said "technically we've been friends since kindergarten, but there were some years that we didn't really talk that much." Elliot and Liv looked at eachother. "Wow, that's a long time."

The girls decided to watch their favorite movie, leaving mom and dad to their own devices. As the sun set and the air got cold, they went out on the patio to talk for a while. Sitting in their chairs they watched the beautiful sunset sink down below the trees.

"So, do you think Sophie is feeling better?" Elliot wondered. "Yeah, she's got her best friend, that teacher of her's called wanting to talk to her later tonight, and her grandparents are coming down this weekend." Liv said. It was true that Sophie had a lot of people who loved her, but only a few of them truly loved her as her, and not just the good parts of her. Many people didn't bother to ask about her, or talk to her once her life wasn't all sunshine and rainbows.

" I think you made the right choice Liv" Elliot said. Liv did not hear him. She was too busy. Placing her hand towards the side of her belly she waited for it again. It's too early, she thought. "Liv?" Elliot asked out of confusion. "Babe, I think the baby just moved" Her face showed it all. There was no doubt anymore that she was ready for this baby.

He moved over to her and she took his hand, placing it where she felt it. It didn't matter that it was impossible for him to feel, it just felt right. As they stood there together they had no idea that the girls were watching from inside. "Wow, they are pretty cute! What do you think of them?" Emily asked. "Well, if i'm being honest, they are more than just cute, they are an amazing couple. But as parents, words can't begin to describe it. When they look at me, for the first time ever I know what that "motherly love" or "fatherly love" is that everyone keeps talking about. I have to be honest, I love them…"


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning, Liv felt a hand slowly creep over to rest on her belly. "Mhhmm, babe it's so early" Elliot, half awake let out a yawn. "I know, I woke up to that stupid neighbor blasting his stupid conspiracy theories videos again" Liv laughed. "Oh dave…"

Elliot got up and headed to the bathroom. He splashed some water on his face, and turned the hot shower on. After a few minutes Liv joined him. "Oh so you're going to join me huh?" Elliot said Laughing. With her clothes off it was obvious now that she was pregnant, absolutely no hiding it. She caught him glancing and her hand ran down to her stomach. "What?" she said. Elliot thought for a moment. "Nothing. It's just you're so beautiful, I don't know how I got you."

It was saturday, so the only plans for the weekend were to do some mall shopping with Sophie and Emily, and then see her grandparents on sunday. "I'm totally going to get that new scent at pink, it's so good!" Sophie fangirled. Liv laughed at her little teenager.

"Ugh, that guy was so stupid" Emily looked over at Sophie. "You know he was totally hitting on you right?" " yes that's why he's so stupid, lol who wants me?" The girls laughed as they ate their food court lunch. "So, where to next?" Liv asked. After a moment of thinking, they both agreed to go to the buckle, Sophie needed new jeans.

As they walked Liv saw a familiar face. "Hey baby girl, what are you doing here?" Fin asked. "Just hanging with the girls!" Fin laughed. "I see you are having fun" Liv and the girls showed him their shopping bags. "Of course!" "aww, alright well hey Sophie here, get yourself something nice while you're here." He handed her a fifty and started to walk away. Liv grabbed his arm and asked him what the 50 was about. He smiled, and said "it's good to see you happy Liv. See you monday." With that he left.

Liv couldn't stop thinking about what he said. She was aware that things had been a bit rocky for a while, but it was what had changed that had her confused. So much had changed that it was hard to pinpoint what exactly was making her so much happier. She thought about the baby, about work, about Elliot, but then she stopped. Yes she had a baby she would have to take care of soon, but it was the one she was already who started all of this. Sophie.

She had come into their lives and was the first thing that made them realize they needed a change. They had to be parents to her, to be there for her. And being parents is hard to do when you don't talk, or see each other. She was what had been missing.

As soon as Liv got home she called up Cragen. He picked up right away, given how close they were. "Hey Liv, what's up, everything ok?" She smiled at his worry. "Yes Cap, everything is great, actually. I'm calling to see if I could get a week off. I want to go on a quick trip." The captain was certainly surprised, his best detective never missed a day and certainly didn't take off for vacation. Of course that was also why he said yes. "Sure Liv, you deserve it."

She went out to tell Elliot, but he was fast asleep. She laid down in the bed, cuddled between the sheets and him, and rested her head on his shoulder. "I love you" she whispered...


	9. Chapter 9

Thump Thump Thump. Liv woke up to a weird sensation. She knew what it was right away. Yes the baby had moved, but it had never kicked before. But here, as she sat in her bed at 2 in the morning, her baby was kicking her.

"El" Liv whisper-screamed He slowly opened his eyes, not wanting to face the day yet. "What?" he said groggily. "Babe, the baby's kicking!" He was awake now. In 2 seconds he was there in the same spot she was, hand on baby. He knew he still couldn't feel it himself, but again, it was what felt right.

"Wow" was all she managed to say. "That's our tiny turtle in there" Elliot said. Liv laughed at this name. "Tiny turtle, I like it." she said with a smile. There was definitely no better start to a day.

Sophie woke up and walked out to the kitchen, wondering why it was so quiet. "Morning honey" Liv said, sitting on the couch. "Good morning! Hey is there a chance I could have a few friends over tonight? It's nick's birthday.

"Sure honey." Sophie sat down on the couch next to her, laying her head down to rest on her shoulder. "I started to feel the baby kick last night" "no way really?" Liv knew Sophie would be excited. She had been staying with them for 4 ½ months now, and she had really been taking an interest in the baby lately. It was nice because it was making them a lot closer. She'd sit with Liv on the couch at night with her hand on her belly. She'd jokingly talk to the baby, saying things like "i'm your favorite" She'd even asked if she could come along to Liv's next appointment.

Today was just a lazy day for the bensons. Elliot made a killer breakfast with all the fixings. Liv and Sophie and "tiny turtle" ate it up. At about 2, Emily and Nick arrived. Nick was Sophie's boyfriend of a year and a half. She greeted him with a quick peck on the lips. "Hey sweetie!" He said. "Happy early birthday." she greeted him.

Then the rest of their friends showed up. Amanda and john, Olivia and owen, Kelly and tim and cassie. Suddenly there were 10 teenagers in the house. Luckily for Liv and Elliot, Sophie and Nick had nice, respectful friends who weren't overly loud and annoying. They had some funny old rap music on an were all just chatting on the couch. Sophie went out and bought all her own soda and food for the party, against Liv's instructions to use the 20 she gave her.

Around 11:45 they all got their drinks ready, and the cake out. 11:59 the camera started rolling. 5..4..3..2..1.. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear Nick, Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday! They all yelled.

Later on as the night calmed down and everybody was left talking to their own devices, Nick found himself sitting next to Elliot. "So, 17, that's a bit deal." Nick seemed a bit nervous. "yeah , pretty big!" "hey you wanna grab me another beer real quick?" Elliot asked. "Yeah sure" "hey ah, grab one for yourself too" he called. "Um, are you sure? That's against the law" Nick stated. "Buddy, I am the law." Nick laughed at Elliots comment. "Uh, ok I guess."

So they sat there, just like a father and a son sharing a beer. Liv looked over to see the sweet sight, noticing how happy Elliot seemed to be. Maybe he wanted a boy? Liv thought to herself. Well, It wouldn't be long until she'd find out...


	10. Chapter 10

The gel was cold on Liv's stomach. She turned over to Sophie, smiling. Elliot had wanted to be surprised, so he went to work today. Sophie held Liv's hand, excited. "Ok, let's look at this baby" the doctor said, moving the want around. She stopped and said "alright, there it is, 10 fingers, ten toes, and oh, would you look at that." The doctor smiled. Liv and Sophie looked at each other in shock.

A boy! Liv could barely contain her excitement when they got out of there. "Oh my god, this just made it so much more real" She said. Sophie, still in shock looked over at her and said "I know, it's like, so weird to think that there is a little baby boy floating around in there" "we should celebrate, let's go out for lunch"

They went to Liv's favorite chinese place. "So how excited do you think Elliot will be?" "i don't know, did you see him last night with Nick? I think he wants a boy" Liv smiled at the thought of Elliot teaching his little boy to play ball, and putting his badge on him.

Suddenly there was a thump on her belly, and out of habit, she placed her hand where the baby was currently using her as a drum. But then, she felt it. Of course she had always felt it, but not her hand. She grabbed Sophie's hand so fast it almost scared her, placing it where she had just felt it. "Oh my god" was all Sophie could mutte. "That's amazing, I'm going to cry" Liv could feel her eyes tear up at the sight of this. Sophie, and what will undoubtedly be her little brother no matter where she ends up going.

They got home to a surprisingly quiet house. "El?" Liv called. "In here babe" He yelled from the bedroom. She walked in and he was practically begging her to tell him. So, I have some bad news, you won't be able to teach your son how to play ball," he tried to hide the disappointment. "Because we both know i'm better"

He hugged her so tight Liv thought she'd peed a little. "Oh babe i'm so excited!" He was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement. "I knew you would be" She said. "Oh honey I can't wait"

They made lasagna for dinner, and ate as a family out on the dining room table. "So, I was thinking this weekend we could do some baby shopping now that we know?" Liv asked "well, I think that's a great idea, and maybe you and Sophie could get a head start on the nursery?" Elliot said. "Ooh good idea, we could just pick a paint color, since we don't have anything to match to yet it will be hard to get stuff" Sophie stated.

They went to bed rather early, It had been a long weekend, and everybody was tired. Liv and Elliot sat together in bed, feeling the baby softly kick. Elliot's excitement was too obvious to hide. "I'm so happy it's a boy" he said. "I mean, a girl would have of course been nice too, but… " "you wanted a boy… I know." Liv laughed. "I love you babe" "love you more" "oh don't you start this game! I love you more." "no i love you more" "no i love you more"…...


	11. Chapter 11

The next day at work everybody was on the edge of their seats waiting for the news. Liv had of course already told Cragen, given that he was like a father to her and all. She went in right away when she got there, "he Livvie!" he said thinking she just had some news on their latest victim. "Well Cap, I think you better get working on your baseball skills, my sons going to need someone to teach him" she said rubbing her belly.

His face made Liv smile from ear to ear. She'd never seen him so happy. "Oh my god Liv, a boy? A boy! A boy?" He grabbed her and gave her a hug, and she couldn't help but notice a small tear trickle down his face. "You're finally going to have that grandson you always wanted."

As they sat there, waiting for liv to announce it, Elliot came rushing in. "Liv! Liv! Did you tell them all it was a boy yet?" Everybody cheered and hugged the happy couple, knowing full well it was planned for him to come running in. "Wow, I'm so proud of you babygirl" Fin said. "Hope your pregnancy goes better than mine" Rollins said laughing. "Still got it in ya" Carisi said to Elliot as Liv fake punched his arm. Everybody was so excited.

About an hour or so later they all sat down at the table for lunch as the waiter handed them their menus. "So you guys got any names in mind yet?" Liv and Elliot looked at eachother. "Well, not really. I guess we were kind of waiting until found out" Liv said. "Well, of course there are some family names, names like Elliot and Eli and Elijah run in my family, but I don't think we are going to name him that." Elliot said. "And then there are some like Michael, and John, and Donald that run in my family, but we're going to use one of those for the middle name"

Cragen couldn't help but notice the fact that Liv had just said his name. "Donald?" he said. "Yes, we already picked that out for the middle name actually, it was either Donald or Rose." He knew what she was saying, they were going to name the baby after him, of course it was just his middle name, but still. He took Liv in his arms and said "oh my god you guys, thank you so much." Liv could tell the Captain cared, she saw the tears on his face. "Well, it was important to me that my son knew who to look up to, and respect, and thank." Liv said.

When they got home Sophie and her friends were laughing in her bedroom. "Hello!" Elliot called. "We're home!" Liv called to the girls. "Hey mom and dad, we're in here!" Sophie yelled. They froze and looked at eachother. "Mom? Dad?" they both said. Liv walked into the bedroom and greeted the girls. "Hey guys, whatcha doing?" Sophie laughed and said "we are watching high school musical from like a bajillion years ago and laughing at how awesome we thought it was as kids" Liv smiled, sitting on the bed next to Sophie. "so , what did everybody say today?" Sophie asked as she placed her hand over the baby. "Oh you know, they were all very excited." "did you tell Cragen about the middle name? She asked. "Oh yes, he cried!" Sophie smiled. "He's going to be a great grandfather." Liv smiled and looked down at Sophies hand, cradling her brother. "Yeah, by the way he wants to know if you have plans this weekend, he wants to take you camping." Sophie's eyes brightened and her grin widened. "Really? I've always wanted to go camping" So it was set, this weekend they would be heading out for their camp trip.

As the sun set Liv and Elliot got their drinks and went to sit out on the balcony. "Aaaahhhh, isn't this nice?" Elliot said as he sunk into his chair. "It certainly is" Liv said. "Oop, Tiny Turtle wants to say hello" She took Elliots hand and placed it where he was. He might have felt it a hundred times by now, but it never got old to him. His eyes widened with glee. Liv loved this about him, she knew he was going to be a great dad because he never got bored with this baby. He never stopped wanting to feel it, and it always made him happy. He never got mad when Liv was angry because of hormones. He never got annoyed when the baby would repeatedly kick his back at night. And he never got tired of waking up as Liv got out of bed to pee for the millionth time. And every night now, as they said good night, he would put his head down and kiss her belly, and say "good night Tiny Turtle, love you"


	12. Chapter 12

Elliot was awoken by some strange noise. "Elliot!" "Elliot wake up!" He opened his eyes to see Sophie standing there crying. "What, what?!" "It's mom! "What is it?" "what?! What is it?! But then everything turned black.

He awoke, gasping for air as he reached over to make sure Liv and the baby were still there. "aah! " Liv screamed as she awoke to him grabbing onto her. "What are you doing?!" She yelled at him. "I'm sorry babe, I had a dream, something was wrong and I just got scared that you were gone." She smiled at the thought of him being so worried about her. "It's fine babe, we're fine." We, this new plural she found herself using.

Elliot got up and walked to the bathroom, it was almost time to get up anyway. He splashed some water on his face, and walked out into the living room. He sat down and turned on the TV. He was worried, he didn't know why but he was worried. He couldn't find anything to watch so he just turned it off. He started reading, he didn't know what else to do.

Suddenly from the bedroom he heard Liv slowly exhale as if she was in pain. He walked into the bedroom to see her sitting there, hand on one side of her stomach, breathing. "Everything ok?" "I think i'm having one of the cramps the doctor was talking about." she said between breaths. "It's not very bad at all, it's just that the baby doesn't know what going on so he keeps kicking me. "Oh," he said "well is there anything I can do?" "yes, can you rub my back? It really hurts on my back" she said. He did as told and it seemed to help. "Ooh, should I call and make sure that it was only a cramp?" Elliot said. "No babe, it's fine, let's go back to sleep."

At work that day Liv couldn't help but notice that there was always a small air of a cramp, but not like that morning. She just decided it was fine and went on with her day. But after lunch it became almost unhideable, and she knew soon it would be obvious. She went out to her car, turned the air conditioning on, and just sat a moment. It became almost unbearable, she held onto her stomach and shed a tear or two, praying that nothing was wrong. And yet, after one last cramp, it just went away. It was as if nothing had ever happened. She slowly made her way back inside, and sat down.

The rest of the day was cramp-free. Elliot came by a few times to talk for a few minutes, but then went right back to working. Liv couldn't figure out what had happened earlier but she was glad it was over.

That night when they got home, the phone was ringing. It was Cragen "hello?" Liv said " Hey we found a family member willing to take in Sophie" Liv's heart fell to the floor. "What?" "well, she has an aunt who said she would love to take in Sophie." "ok, well does she have to go with this aunt?" "well, kind of yes. She will appear in court to show that she is a good fit, and so will Sophie." "oh, ok. Are you guys still going camping this weekend?" She could hear the smile when he said "of course hon."

Liv quietly crept into Sophie's room. "Hey honey?" She said "hey! What's up?" Sophie seemed happy. "Well, do you remember your aunt alicia?" "oh yeah, god that woman is rude" "well, she said she wants to take you in. I guess you will have to go to court to see if she's ok to take care of you." She could see the fear in her eyes. "What? I don't want to go with her!" "I'm sure that if you don't want to go with her that there will be another family memeber willing." Sophie started to cry. "No you don't get it, it's not just her, I don't want to go with anybody, I don't want to leave here. She hugged Liv as she cried. Liv realized what this meant...


	13. Chapter 13

"Got everything?" Liv said to Sophie as she brought her suitcase out to the door. "Yep, I think so" "ok, He just texted me he's here." "ooh, almost forgot my toothbrush!" Sophie raced into her bedroom as Liv opened the door for Cragen. He gave her a hug and smiled. "Hey cap!" Liv said smiling. "Hey hon, He El!. She all ready?" "yep, just getting her toothbrush" "ey, there she is!" He said as she came and gave him a hug. "He Cragen!" He smiled. "You all ready to go?" "yep!" "ah ah ah, here's 50 bucks, get yourself something nice to eat on the way down there." Elliot said handing her the money. "Are you sure dad?" cragen was wide eyed at hearing this new term for Elliot. Liv and Elliot hugged her as she made her way out the door. "Bye!" they yelled. "Bye guys love you! Sophie said. "Love you too!" Liv said. There's a first time for everything you know…

"So, where do you want to go to eat?" Cragen asked Sophie. She smiled. "Wherever you want to go!" "ok, how about this little diner, it's about half way there." "sure!" They listened to some music, talked a little about school, and just enjoyed each other's company.

At lunch they had fun talking about some of his most interesting cases from his early years. Sophie found these sort of things very interesting, she admired her mom and dad and Cragen for being able to work with things like that.

While setting up camp, Sophie discovered a new trail that she could only assume led to the river. It was obviously a normal trail that was just unseeable because of the brush covering the opening. "We'll finish here, make some lunch and then let's go walking!" Cragen said.

The trail was beautiful, it had flowering plants all around, and it lead to the river, which at this time of year was covered in cherry blossoms from the nearby tree. "Wow, this is beautiful." Cragen said in awe. "I know" Sophie said. Cragen put his arm around her as they continued walking. He loved moments like this with her, she was already turning into his granddaughter, even if he knew she was going to be leaving soon.

They got back around 2, and decided to start a fire. "I'll get some sticks" said Sophie. "Ok hon" Said Cragen. She made a pile and they slowly built up their fire. "So there is a kayak rental place down the river a bit, I was thinking we could go tomorrow?" "yeah! I love kayaking!" Sophie said to Cragen.

Later on after they had both enjoyed their hot dogs, they sat by the fire drinking a beer together. "Now don't go telling your mom I let you have that" he said to her with a smile. "So how do you feel about going to stay with your aunt?" he said cautiously. "Ugh, I don't want to go there." He knew she would say that. "Why?" "because, I like my friends here, and my teachers here, and my school here." Cragen looked at her. "Are you sure there isn't another reason?" "well, if i'm being honest the biggest reason is Liv and Elliot. I mean I call them mom and dad now, and I really love them. They are nice to me, and treat me like I mean something to them. I've only ever had that feeling once and that's from one of my teachers, but her and I are really close." Cragen listened as she explained just how happy she was with them. "And now that I have a little brother coming, I can't leave. Yeah they'd say they'd send pictures and all, but I know that pictures wouldn't suffice, and I need to be there. I need to be there when he's born, Liv said I could cut the umbilical cord. I need to be there to rock him to sleep when mom and dad need to actually get some sleep. I need to be there to hear his first words, see his first steps. I was already there for the first kicks, and I WILL be there for the last ones."

Cragen knew she was being serious when she said these things. "Don't tell me that, tell the judge that. If you say you don't want to leave, she won't make you go anywhere but home." Sophie relaxed realizing what he said was true. The judge and the jury would never send an abused child somewhere they said they didn't want to be. She exhaled slowly. "I'm sorry Cap, I know I just got a little crazy. I just am finally happy. I mean I have a mom and dad who love me, A baby brother who I already love, and an amazing grandpa like you."

As the crickets chirping got louder and louder, and the mosquitos got more and more abundant, they decided to call it a night. "It's going on 11:30, let's hit the hay" Cragen said. "You're right. I'm pretty tired." they got up, and walked to their tents. Cragen put his arm around her as they walked to the tents. Alright kiddo, good night!" "Night Cap, see you tomorrow."

Liv got into her sleeping bag as she heard the captain turn out his light in his tent. She turned out hers as well, as her phone buzzed. Mom:Hey honey, your brother misses you! Sophie clicked on the video she sent. It was a video of her brother kicking a pencil off Livs stomach. Sophie: haha, hilarious! Can't wait for a few months from now when you can actually see him moving and kicking. In this video Liv just placed the pencil on her shirt where he was kicking and it just happened to fall, but she knew that in a few months when Liv lifted her shirt you'd be able to actually see the little bulge where his foot was.

And with that, she turned off her phone, and went to bed.


	14. Chapter 14

Back at Liv and Elliot's they were having an adult party with their friends. Most were from work, but there were a few others there, including liv's friend from college Max, and Cassidy was there. Elliots friends from his old apartment complex Judy and mark were there also. They were all standing around the table, as Elliot went around pouring the wine into everybody's glass.

"Alright you guys, we are here to celebrate the most amazing that has ever happened, Kaley cuoco's eyebrows!" Everybody laughed. "Nah, i'm just kidding, we are all here today to celebrate the miracle that is this baby, and celebrating this baby boy!" Elliot said. Liv had ordered a blue cake with balloons on top and everything. Everybody cheered and took pictures as they cut the cake.

As Liv looked around at all their friends, it made her so happy on the inside to see all the people that cared about them and their baby. She knew that she had great people in her life, but this was just amazing. Everybody was so excited about the baby when she told them, but now that they knew it was a boy, they were 10 times more excited.

They had so much fun playing party games. They played pin the weiner on the baby (it was a hot dog, and of course Elliots idea) And they played a game of sketch the baby, then they used the balloons to see who could keep the balloons up the longest only using their hands. They played many games, and had a lot of fun. They played a game to see what they thought the baby would look like, and all decided he would probably just look like a baby.

Then they did gifts. Liv had just asked for sensible, cheap gifts, nothing too big. Of course, nobody listened. Rolling got her bestie some adorable baby outfits, and cute little leather jackets and baby booties. Carisi got a little baby cop outfit. Judy got them 2 months supply of diapers. Cassidy got a little biker outfit with a shirt that said chick magnet. But the best of all of the gifts was the one that Barba sent since he couldn't be there. Liv read the card: Dear Liv and Elliot. I'm so overwhelmingly happy for you guys, and realized this was my chance to repay you for all of your amazing work. I know how important education is to you, so I figured i'd make sure you didn't have to worry about it being important to your boy…] Liv started to tear up, "oh my god El, he's putting 5000 dollars towards our sons college tuition." Everybody cheered and a few teared up.

Liv called Barba the second they were done. "Hello?" "oh my god Barba I don't know how to thank you enough. You don't know how amazing of a gift this was." He laughed happily and said "I knew you'd like it. I figured i'd get something that would be important to you, and that would hopefully help his life." "Really Barba, this is amazing."

Later on as the party was starting to die down, they brought out the sonogram and let everybody see how adorable he was. Everybody sort of congregated in their own little groups and talked. The last two people to leave were Rollins and Carisi, and they left around 11. "Wow, that was nice" said Elliot. "I know, we should really do that more often." Said Liv.

Buzzzzzzzz Liv looked at her phone. Sophie: Hey mom, how's it going? Liv smiled Liv: it's going great! Everybody just left, dad and I are just about to go in and maybe just watch some tv. Sophie:oh, cool! Glad you're having fun, i'm having fun here!

Liv noticed as they were sitting there that Tiny turtle seemed to be pretty aggressive with his kicks. She placed her hand where she felt it and was surprised by his power on her hand. She grabbed a pencil off her nightstand and placed it there. And the next time he kicked, it rolled off. She smiled, as she placed it back on, this time taking a video. Liv: your brother misses you! Buuuuuuuuzzzzzz. Sophie:haha, hilarious! I can't wait until a few months from now when you can actually see it!. Liv smiled, she was excited for that too.

She knew it was time for bed when she looked over and saw Elliot, barely awake, trying to keep his eyes open. And with that, she turned off her phone, and went to bed.


	15. Chapter 15

As The stars started to come out they watched their marshmallows slowly roast over the fire. "Aww damn, I burned mine." Said Cragen. Sophie laughed. "Haha, that sucks!" Cragen laughed. He loved messing with her, she was just such a funny kid.

They had to drive back tonight, so they packed up their stuff, and got in the car. Sophie was driving this time. "So, did you have fun kiddo?" Said Cragen. "Of course, I actually had a really great time with you Cap." "well that's good, because this was your birthday present" They both laughed and looked at eachother. "Really though, thank you." Said Sophie. Cragen smiled, "anytime you want to do this again, you just let me know." He smiled at her.

As they got back it was around 10, so not too late, but they still were quiet walking up to the condo. As they quietly opened the door, they walked into the most adorable scene ever. There, on the couch, sat Liv and Elliot, fast asleep. Liv was draped over Elliot, as he held onto the baby. "Awww" they both said looking at eachother. They were a little too loud though, and Liv slowly awoke.

"Hey guys! How was it?' She said. "It was great, we had so much fun I can't wait to tell you about it!" Sophie said. Liv smiled at seeing her so happy. And Cragen certainly looked happy as well. "Well Cap, I see you didn't get mauled by a bear, so that's good." Said Elliot. He laughed, "ha, yeah well there were a few hairy guys at the kayak rental place, that was as close as we got." Cragen said.

Cragen looked at Sophie, and said "well kid, I had fun with you, and remember anytime, just let me know. He gave her a quick hug and walked out the door. "Bye Cap" Said Sophie. "So, what did you guys do?" asked Liv. "well, the first day we found this trail, that lead to this beautiful river covered in cherry blossoms, and then we made hot dogs, and then the next day we went and rented kayaks, and when we made it to the lake we went swimming. Did you know that Cragen used to dive in high school? He was doing high dives!" Liv smiled at hearing just how much fun they had together, she knew it was important to Cragen. "Alright, well why don't you go get unpacked, we are just getting dinner ready."

They ate some spaghetti and meatballs, and all talked about what they did while the other was away. Liv enjoyed telling Sophie of the amazing gifts her brother had gotten, and Sophie was so excited about all of the awesome things they did on their trip. The one thing she seemed most excited about was having some time to really talk to the captain, and get to know him better.

They decided to watch a movie after dinner, so they made some popcorn and got ready. Elliot sat at the end, with Liv laying on his shoulder, and Sophie cuddling up to her mom, hand cradling her baby brother.

Every now and then she'd be greeted with a swift kick, or a nudge. He seemed so much more active all of a sudden. But she loved it of course. At one point during the movie she suddenly realized that he was kicking in rhythm, and then realized he had the hiccups. Of course this was adorable to both her and Liv.

After the movie it was pretty late, so they all headed off to bed. Elliot was already fast asleep by the time that Liv got into the bed. As she got in she was greeted with another pesky cramp. She sat there and breathed it out for a minute, but then it seemed to go away, so she turned out the light and went to sleep…

"Ow" She awoke to a burning pain deep in her stomach. "Oh god, Elliot" He woke right away and saw his wife sitting there with a panicked look and a hand on their child. "What is it babe?" "I don't know, but it really hurts and I think something's wrong."

The drive to the hospital was a fast one, Liv was just sitting silent the entire time, except for the occasional "hee hee hoo hoo" 's when the pain got really bad. When they got there they checked in and were allowed into the examination room right away.

The doctor did a few scans. And went to go process them. "El, what if something is wrong?" Elliot didn't want to think that way, but he knew it was something he might have to prepare himself for. They had given her some medication, so she couldn't feel the cramps anymore. She couldn't feel the baby either, which wasn't helping as she was scared that he would stop moving altogether and she wouldn't know it.

Suddenly the door opened, and the doctor came in. "alright you guys, I have something to tell you…"


	16. Chapter 16

"Alright you guys, so what's going on is you have a predetermined condition causing the cramps, but the burning pain you were feeling was due to something the baby did, not the other way around. The baby hit an artery, and the pain was due to a bit of a blockage. If it weren't for that pain, you could have been dead by morning." "what we are going to do is do a small overnight surgery to unclog the artery. You should be out of here by monday."

Liv had to take in the information just given to her. "Ok, so it won't be harmful to the baby?" The baby was her number one concern right now. "Nope, the baby will be absolutely fine." "ok then, let's do it."

As she went in Elliot smiled at her, saying something that she couldn't understand, they had pumped her full of drugs to knock her out, and she was woozy. She slowly started to fade to black.

Her baby was there, dancing around, saying mama mama look at me. He was running around the living room in nothing but his diaper, saying catch me if you can. He was beautiful, he had Elliots hair, and her eyes. She said to him "i'll catch you, i'll always catch you if you fall…"

When she woke up the first thing she noticed was how bright the lights were. Still woozy, she had no idea what was going on. "What's going on, why am I here?" she said sounding drunk. Her hands went down to her stomach as she looked at Elliot in amazement. "I'm pregnant?! What did you do to me? I'm too pretty to be pregnant!" her talk made Elliot laugh. "Calm down honey, you already knew that, and you just had surgery, so you need to be careful. As the baby kicked she was certainly surprised. "Ow," she said "why are you kicking me? You little soccer player you." She still sounded like she was either drunk or high out of her mind. She would be out of it in about an hour, but for now she was hilarious.

Later on Sophie came in to check on her. "Hey honey!" she said, now clear minded. "Hey mom! How ya feeling?" She seemed happy, yet a little worried about her. "Oh i'm fine honey, and the baby is too, give me your hand." She reached over as Liv placed her hand on the top of her belly. Her little brother responded with a hardy kick. "Aww, hey buddy!"

When they finally got home after what was certainly a long night and day, Liv went straight to bed. Elliot followed soon after with his computer, thinking it was a good time to get some work done. Sophie went and planned to meet up with Emily at the mall. "Hey Emily! Wanna go to the mall today? I got nothing to do." "sure girl!"

At the mall they bumped into mrs smith Sophie's favorite teacher, whom she was very very close with. "Hey honey! What are you doing here?" She was a very pretty middle-aged woman, with black straight hair. "We were just trying to find a way to spend the afternoon, and uh spend we did!" "haha, well that's good that you are having fun!" "certainly is, and now that mom's home I don't have to worry anymore!" "oh yeah, how did that go?" "everything is fine now" "oh that's good. Well, i'm going to get going, hubby needs me! Love you honey!" she gave her a hug as Sophie said "love you too!"

When they got back, Liv was still sleeping, and Elliot was sitting at the kitchen counter reading. "Hey guys, how was the mall?" The girls laughed, "it was great, of course." Elliot smiled at how happy Sophie looked. He knew that doing normal things like going to the mall and hanging out with friends made her feel better, but in general she just seemed to be doing better lately.

The girls went into Sophie's bedroom, and laughed at vines for about an hour. Then they straightened Emily's very very curly hair, and did makeovers. Sophie was supposed to look like Jlo, so they put paper towels in her underwear until her butt looked big enough, and Emily was supposed to look like Karen Walker. They gave her a black wig, an expensive looking outfit, and everything she said had to start with either "honey" or "poodle". They had the time of their lives dressing each other up and acting stupid, just as teenagers their ages should.

Elliot knew that Sophie was happy, and that Made him very happy. She was starting to feel more normal, and she was conforming to living with them. After a few months she had started calling it home.


	17. Chapter 17

The next morning was a busy one at work. There were two new cases, and a missing child. His name was Theo, and they had not much for leads at all. The mother was definitely not mother of the year, which made it hard to trust much she said considering her horrible life style. Hopped up on drugs was not the best way to raise a child.

Liv and Elliot were definitely feeling the rush of adrenaline as they finally got a lead. Being put on reduced work Liv had to stay behind. She of course hated it, mostly because this job was her life. But also because of how hard it was to just sit there knowing that a child is in danger. She just kept thinking about Sophie. And, like she could read her mind, her phone buzzed with a text from Sophie.

Sohpie: Hey! Wanna meet for lunch? I can pick something up since you're probably busy. Of course Sophie knew her so well to pick something up. Liv hated going out to lunch during work, especially on a day like today. Liv: sure honey! Wanna just pick up some subs?

Liv quickly realized she needed to use the restroom, and she got up probably a little too quickly. As she got up she felt a cramp ripple through her stomach. She almost froze in pain. She slowly sat back down and exhaled slowly. That was definitely the worst one she'd had yet. Normally after cramps Tiny Turtle would show his annoyance with some kicks, but nothing today. In fact Liv realized that he had been unusually quiet today. Before she could worry about it Rollins came knocking on the door.

"Hey, what's up?" she said to Rollins. "I just wanted to tell you that we are back, the lead was no good. So basically still nothing." Rollins said plainly. "Ok, thanks for letting me know." After a quick trip to the bathroom Liv sat back down, bored. And again just in time, Sophie came through the door. "Hey honey!" Liv said, her face brightening up. "Hey mom, how ya doing?" She smiled handing her the sandwich. "Well, just dandy!" Liv wasn't about to tell her that she had just had a horrible cramp, or that her back was absolutely killing her today. She wasn't one to tell people about her weaknesses, not to mention she didn't like other people worrying about her.

"Thanks for the sandwich!" She said with a smile. Sophie finished chewing as she laughed and said "sure!" "so, how are the cases?" Sophie said acting interested in her moms craft. "Well, you know, a lot happening and not a lot happening at the same time. Lots of cases, and work being done, but no leads and nothing being found out." Sophie nodded. "Oh, how fun."

As they sat and talked, Liv again couldn't help but notice that there was no movement from the baby, normally when she ate he moved. But she did her best to brush it off, maybe he was just really tired. They finished their sandwiches, and decided to go grab some ice cream quick from a truck outside. "So, how are you feeling today?" Sophie asked. "Well i'm feeling good, why?" Liv said. "Just wondering, mostly because I know you won't tell me if something is wrong." Sophie said, knowing Liv well.

As they ate their ice cream they talked about plans for the rest of the summer. It was only second week of summer, so they hadn't really done much. They talked about doing some traveling before Liv was too big to travel, or had a newborn that couldn't travel. Liv had always wanted to go to paris, and Elliot was planning on taking her at some point. Liv knew he would someday, but she didn't know that he had actually planned on doing it for their anniversary, but he knew she wouldn't want to do it pregnant, so he changed his mind once she told him.

When Liv got home after work it was pretty loud. Sophie had a few of her friends over, and they were laughing hysterically, and blasting music. She set her groceries down on the counter and said "what's so funny?" Sophie and the girls looked over and laughed. Sophie said "dads instagram." Liv froze, laughing. "Oh my god, no! He has an instagram?" The pictures were selfies of him with his badge and hat on, with dogs, at starbucks, all hilarious typical things teenagers would post. They had lots of fun teasing him with it the minute he was out of the shower.

Liv's cramps were being persistent today, not bad ones like earlier or anything, in fact they kind of just felt like menstrual cramps. But they were really starting to get to her back, so she decided to go do some work in bed. As she got into bed she awaited the usually nighttime dance Tiny Turtle did, but was disappointed as he sat, still quiet. At this point she was worried, she decided she should call Rollins, she had just had a baby, and would know if this was something normal.

"Hello?" "hey Amanda it's Liv, listen I have a question, did your son ever just lay quiet for a while, and did it ever worry you?" Amanda breathed in for a second. "Why how long has it been?" Liv knew she would be mad that she didn't say anything, "um, well since this morning, so pretty much all day." "oh, well it depends on how often he normally kicks, not to mention that it is normal as you get bigger for him to settle down a bit, but all day is kind of a while. With my son he'd do it for about a day at a time when I was in like my 6th month, he'd stop kicking for a day or two and i'd get super worried, and then the next day he'd be ten times crazier than before. I'd say that unless you have that instinct that something is wrong you should just wait until tomorrow and see if anything happens." Liv was grateful for the advice. "Whoo, thank you Amanda, i've kind of been worrying all day." "it's fine Liv, and hey, if you ever have a question or something, or just need somebody to rant to about your swollen feet and aching back, i'm here." Liv smiled, "thanks Amanda, you truly are a great friend. See you tomorrow." "ok, night."

And of course up until she went to bed she still worried, but she knew Rollins was probably right, and she had just had surgery and all. He was probably fine. She turned out the light and got all cozy in bed, resting her hand on her belly as she fell asleep.


	18. Chapter 18

Liv woke up in the middle of the night to a strange sound. She couldn't figure out what it was. It sounded like glass breaking. Then she heard more noises as she realized that Elliot wasn't in bed. It sounded like there was a fight going on or something. As she got up, she heard a gunshot and Sophie's screaming…

She ran out, afraid for her daughter's life. "Oh my god what's going on?" She saw Elliot standing there with the gun, and a blank look on his face. She turned the corner and saw Sophie, on the floor, directly next to the man Elliot had just shot. Sophie ran into Olivia's arms crying. She was panting as if she were scared for her life. "Are you ok?" was all Elliot said. "What happened?" Liv said still afraid.

"Yes, I came out, after hearing my daughter's screams, and saw this man holding her, clearly trying to take her. I took my legal and licensed gun that I keep for protection, and I said to him that he either let her go and get the hell off of my property, or I would should. He also had a gun, pointed at her head. As I saw his arm move to pull the trigger, I shot." Elliot explained to the police officer who came to the house. "Ok Detective Stabler, and is there anything else that you remember that might be important?" "nope, just please understand that I gave him a chance to let her go, and even if he hadn't at first I still would have tried to negotiate, shooting is not my first thought, I only did it because my daughter was in danger." The officer nodded in understanding. "Of course sir, I completely understand. Now please let us know if there is anything else we can do for you." "thank you"

Liv and Sophie sat in bed in the bedroom, with Sophie being held tight to Liv, crying. "It's ok honey, everything is ok now." Sophie cried to Liv, saying "I know, but what I saw, I-i-i… Ugh" Liv understood, seeing someone being shot or even just killed in any way is extremely difficult, and even this far in her career was always hard for Liv. "honey, I know it is, but you just have to remember that he deserved it after what he would have done to you. It's ok sweetie, we'll figure this out, ok?" Sophie nodded quietly. Sophie reached her hand over and placed it over her brother, Liv knowing it helped calm her down. Suddenly, his kicks came through and Liv felt barely any relief, considering what had just happened, but enough to be thankful. They sat like that for the remainder of the night.

Three days later it was the day of court where they would be deciding on legal guardians for Sophie. Things with the shooting were settling down although the feelings Sophie had wouldn't for a while yet. Things were better, they were all a lot closer because of it, knowing that they should be thankful for everyday they have with each other. The people piled into the room as Sophie took the stand.

"So Sophie, why did you leave your last household?" "because they were abusive, and I was being sexually harassed by my father" she said bluntly. "Ok, and i'm very sorry that you had to deal with that. Now tell me, how do you like your current arrangement?" Sophie looked at Liv and Elliot and smiled. "I love it, honestly. Liv and Elliot feel like my parents, they treat me like their daughter, and make sure I feel loved. They always make time for me, and couldn't be better parents to me, I really don't want to leave." The judge smiled at her and said "ok, and how do you feel about staying with your aunt?" "Well, as I said I really don't want to leave, I don't know my aunt very well, and well, she was one of the family members I chose not to contact very often, she can be rude and just doesn't seem like a good fit at all." The judge nodded. "Ok, and have you talked to Liv and Elliot about staying?' "yes, I have mentioned that I would like to stay if given the opportunity, and they have said that although in the end they just want me to be happy wherever I choose to go, they absolutely love to take me in completely as their own, as if they haven't already." she said with a smile. "Alright then, I think that's all I need to hear, I give Liv and Elliot full custody, we can discuss in my office all the paperwork. Thanks everybody"

Sophie stepped down and went right over to them. "Woohoo! We did i!" she said. Liv took her into her embrace and smiled. "Nice job honey, I can't wait for this new chapter of our lives." In the Judges office they discussed all sorts of legal things. What would happen if they decided they didn't want Sophie after all, the paperwork that needed to be signed, child care. By the end of it all it was an hour later, and everybody was just happy it was over. "So, you really are happy with them aren't you?' the judge said to Sophie. "Really, in fact just the other night, this man saved my life." "wow, really?" After telling the story, the judge had tears in her eyes and said to them "well you know first of all both of you, thank you for being such wonderful people and parents, I really hope you guys continue being such a happy family."


	19. Chapter 19

It was a particularily rainy day for new york city, the rain was pouring down and there was a storm a brewing. Liv and Sophie decided to spend the day watching marathons of their favorite show, considering it was about all Liv could do this far along. No more work unless it was at home on the computer, and no more walking around other than around the house. Liv had already been having a lot of braxton hicks, but they didn't really hurt, they just kind of felt like the cramps, but a little different.

At this point Elliot was constantly worried about her. "Are you too hot, too cold, hungry, sick?" it was always something he was worried about. It was kind of starting to bother Liv, she hated being so dependent on people. Last night she had to ask Sophie for help getting to the bathroom because her back hurt so bad. Sophie was also always there when she needed her, but for some reason it didn't bother her when Sophie did it. Maybe it was just because Sophie was younger and didn't have to be constantly worried about her, it wasn't her job yet she still did it.

As Elliot got up to get going to work, he stood tying his tie in front of the window. "Wow, listen to that thunder" he said. "Yeah, you know the forecast said it's supposed to get worse, be careful on your way home" she said. "Yeah I know." he responded. "Alright, i'm heading out, be careful today, love you" he said as he kissed her head simultaneously rubbing her stomach. "We will, love you too" she said.

Liv spent most of the day sleeping, she was so tired this week for some reason. She and Sophie would just lie down in bed these days instead of actually doing anything. "Ugh, i'm so tired" Liv said to her. "Haha, I know mom, it's obvious. You've been sleeping all day" she laughed. "Well, I can't help it. Oww, talk to your brother he won't stop kicking and it kind of hurts today." Liv said. "Ok, hey buddy you have to stop, mom is pretty sore and you're not helping." she said. She continued talking to him, she just talked about random things, but it calmed him down and he stopped. Elliot made him kick, and Sophie made him stop.

It was a pretty relaxed day in the benson household. They pretty much just sat around, doing nothing. Around 4 Sophie left for her friends house where she'd be staying the night, and kissed her mom goodbye. "Please please call me or text me if you need anything" she said. "I know sweetheart, have fun" Liv said.

Elliot got home around 5, and started on dinner right away. "This is good chicken" Liv said as they ate at the table. "Thanks, it's that stuff that Cragen gave me. I think it's pretty good" he said. They talked about their days, enjoying eachothers company."so, early bed tonight? Or do you want to watch something?" Elliot said. "I don't know, I think i'm up for some Tv" Liv said.

"Ok, how did that guy get cut? He was so good" Elliot said as they watched top chef. "His souffle was completely burned, what did you expect?" Liv said laughing. They laughed at some of the peoples hair and teeth, and had fun being judgmental for once. "That chick has a tattoo that says no regerts! They laughed and laughed, enjoying their time together.

They went to bed pretty early that night. Around 10 Elliot got a call from Rollins telling him he needed to come in now. "Babe, I have to go" he said. He quietly crept out the door, almost forgetting his keys.

The storm was still going outside, and it was worse than before. Though Liv fell back asleep pretty fast considering how tired she was.


	20. Chapter 20

About an hour after she fell asleep, Liv woke up to a scorching pain sensation throughout her stomach. She held her stomach as she breathed, in and out, in and out. She knew it was contraction, she just knew it. She reached for her phone but as she opened it she realized it was dead, she reached for the landline, and it was then that she realized the power had gone out. "It's fine." she thought to herself. "It's fine, the power will come back on soon, and everything will be fine."

She had 5 more in the next thirty minutes, though they were at random times and there was no discernable time between them. She thought she was in the clear and that maybe it was just early labor. But soon she realized that they were getting worse. She didn't know what to do. She stayed in bed for a while longer, with only one coming in the next 10 minutes.

As they continued, she stayed in her bed, quietly breathing them out. She suddenly felt the need to go to the bathroom. She got up slowly, and made her way to the bathroom. As she sat down she realized that there was a lot of pee coming out. Then she realized that it was her water, and she completely freaked out. "Oh my god, I can't give birth at home alone, no" she thought.

She got up and went back to the bed, thinking about her options. She decided that while she waiting for the power to come back on she'd go sit in the bath to try and relieve some of the contractions. One came as she sat down in the tub that really threw her for a loop. All of a sudden it was unbearable, she moaned as her muscles tightened, and her body was racked with pain. When it passed, she reached down to make sure there was no head yet, and was pleased to feel nothing. She was although, dilated as she felt. She reached her fingers inside to measure, she was at about 7 cm. Which meant only 3 more to go, and she'd be ready to give birth.

She was scared, terrified actually. She had never given birth before and now here she was doing it completely alone. She was praying that everything would go alright and her baby would be fine. As she sat there and the next contraction slowly came on, she began to cry not knowing what else to do.

A few contractions later she reached her hand down and checked again. She was now at 8 cm. She slowly massaged her stomach, feeling her son move within her. "Please baby, stay in there a while longer for mamma, please" she whispered softly through tears. As another one came she gripped the side of that tub and groaned as it burned. She didn't know how she was going to make it any farther if she couldn't even handle this.

She was scared of something going wrong. She had met countless women who had horrible things happen during their deliveries, and they were always so happy to tell her about them. It always pissed her off, because the last thing an expectant mother wants to hear is all the things that could go wrong.

She sat there, thinking about her babies face, and what it would look like. She felt another contraction ripple through her stomach and she held onto the tub for dear life. The noises coming out of her mouth were completely unhuman, it was as if she had left her body and an animal had taken over. She groaned, and moaned, and howled as it passed.

She reached down and felt that she was now at 10 cm, but there was no head yet, so she knew not to push yet. She sat there again just waiting, and panting as 3 more contractions passed. As another one came, she could tell that something was different. She reached her hand down and felt the tiniest bit of her babies head. She began to cry, keeping her hand there, she could feel his hair. It was so soft. This gave her a newfound energy, a rush of adrenaline. She waited for the next contraction, and at it's peak began to push. Her hand rushed down as she felt her baby coming down more with her pushing. She kept her hand there, wanting to feel the amazing process of her baby boy coming into the world.

The next push was a hard one, she gritted her teeth and pushed as hard as she could, but she noticed that the baby wasn't coming down anymore. She pushed even harder, trying her best. But still, he stayed where he was. With her hand she carefully pushed back her skin, hoping to ease his way out. On the next contraction she pushed and pushed, but he still did not move.

She was a little scared, thinking something was wrong. Maybe she wasn't pushing hard enough? She thought. As another contraction quickly built up she pushed so hard she howled, and yet nothing. She just kept pushing and pushing, and soon she was exhausted. But she knew she had to do this. She reached her hand back down and just sat there, waiting for the next contraction. This time something happened as she began to push, she felt a large gush and his head began coming down again. But it hurt, this was what they called the ring of fire.

Her whole vagina burned with pain, as his head began to crown. With her hand she could feel so much more of his head. He had so much hair, she couldn't believe it. On the next contraction she almost screamed as she pushed. Suddenly, his head was out. She couldn't believe it as she felt his head. She knew he was almost here.

The next contraction she pushed and pushed, but again he stayed there. So she pushed harder, and still nothing. The next one came almost on top of the other, and she suddenly felt him release from her. "Aaahhh wahhhh ahhhh" she heard as she brought him up to her chest. "Ohhhh, ohhhh" she swooned over him. She grabbed a towel from the rack and wrapped him in it, grabbing the scissors from the counter. She cut the umbilical chord as she tried to get out of the tub. It was very hard considering how much pain she felt down there.

She managed to make it to the bed, and as she laid down very carefully she sat there, holding her baby and crying. She was so happy. She thought she'd experienced true happiness before, but there was nothing compared to this. This was the very definition of happiness.


	21. Chapter 21

The rest of the night was a blur of hecticness. Calling Elliot, and Sophie, the drive to the hospital to be sure that Liv and the baby got the care they needed, and coming home the next morning.

As they got home baby lucas showed his hunger while he wailed. "Oh calm down LD!" Elliot said as he gave him to Liv. As she fed him she looked down at him. "Lucas Donald Benson" she said with a smile. "Eh em, stabler" Elliot said. Well I don't know, same thing" Liv said with a laugh.

The rest of the day was spent in bed with Lucas, as recovery after giving birth is very long and painful. She found out quickly that he was a hungry boy. She was either feeding him or burping him constantly. Sophie was in the bed the entire time with her. She was holding him while mom took a nap, and Elliot walked in to see her whispering to him. "Hi baby, we've waited so long to see you, and you know what? I love you so much!" He smiled, his heart being filled with love for his baby boy and little girl.

2 days later when Liv could walk without pain she brought him into the office. The first person to hold him was Cragen. He was so happy with his name, of course. He looked into his little eyes, and shed a tear. "Hi buddy, well aren't you cute!" he said. Rollins couldn't get enough of his little outfit. And Fin had fun putting a badge on him and taking pictures. Everybody fell head over heels in love with him.

When Liv got home that night, she was beyond tired. She took a quick shower, and headed off to bed. Sophie and Eliot had Lucas tonight, she needed some sleep. As she layed in bed she found it hard not to place her hands on her stomach, awaiting some sort of movement. She found herself constantly reminding herself that her baby boy was here. She was incredibly proud of herself for doing it all on her own, a feat her doctor seemed impressed by.

She was, as it turned out, very lucky. He was an easy baby for the most part, which the doctor said most babies normally aren't. She said that she had just had a mom in labor for 25 hours. Liv couldn't imagine being in labor that long, especially with how much her short 2 hour birth hurt. She felt weak considering how short her labor was, but the doctor confirmed that hers was actually just as hard in a way. With her having a fast labor, she didn't have as much time as normal moms to adjust to the worse contractions, meaning that hers was pretty hard too.

As she laid down, she thought about all that had happened, and how incredibly lucky she was. And soon she heard Lucas crying and Elliot lulling him back to sleep. She fell asleep just as he did.


	22. Chapter 22

Alright you guys, first of all I do not own SVU, and also please review if there is anything you want to see happen in this fic. I'm not really writing this for me. Please enjoy!

Liv woke up and walked out to the living room, wondering why it was so quiet. As she walked in, she saw Sophie asleep on the couch, holding a fast asleep Lucas in her arms. She grabbed her phone and took a picture. It as adorable, so of course she was going to take a picture, being a mom and all.

She got the stuff set out for breakfast as Sophie slowly woke up. "Hey whatcha making?" she said through a yawn. "Oh I don't know, I was just thinking maybe waffles." Sophie lit up "thank you!" (waffles are Sophies favorite) She still had baby Lucas in her arms, and he was holding onto her as if she were his only way of survival.

Elliot walked in and gave Liv a kiss on the forehead, saying "morning baby" "hey honey, if I make waffles are you going to want some?" Elliot smiled. "Of course babe" They all sat at the table as they ate their breakfast. Elliot looked around. He saw Liv, his beautiful, happy wife who he loved more than anything in the world. He saw his daughter, who he loved so much. He saw his son, who he already loved. He was so happy that Sophie had come into their lives, because it seemed like everything after that had just fallen into place. They ate their breakfast while talking about fun trip ideas, and the upcoming school year.

Liv and Sophie had already planned on going and doing some shopping and seeing a movie, so they left around noon. At the mall they had fun acting like they were two best friends. They went to the buckle, the victoria's secret, american eagle express, and bought a bunch of clothes. Liv was on the lookout for some clothes too, considering that she was too small for her maternity clothes, but too big for her old clothes. While she was losing the weight she would need clothes to wear. She made sure to buy a shirt a few sizes too small as motivation.

At the movies they watched sausage party, and laughed hysterically the entire time. "Don't tell your dad I let you watch this" Liv said between laughs. Sophie found the movie hilarious. Then they decided to grab some lunch, and of course they chose chinese. As the waiter sat them down Liv was excited for her favorite meal, orange chicken. Yes, she normally got sweet and sour like Sophie, but during her pregnancy she had a newfound love of orange chicken. As the plate came she dug in, her mouth watering. And she was sadly dissapointed, as her chicken tasted just as it did before her pregnancy. She was warned of things like this, so it wasn't too much of a surprise, but it still sucked.

When they got back home, Elliot was walking around trying his best to get Lucas to stop crying. "I'm so glad you're home, he's been crying for an hour. Liv took him, and she knew right away what he wanted. She sat on the couch and pulled down her shirt. "El, remember I pumped last night, how much have you fed him today?" He thought. "Um, he's had 2 bottles since you left." "El! He should have had at least 4" he was still getting used to all of this, he had no idea how much he needed, or why he was crying.

That night they all sat on the couch watching top chef, again laughing at the people. Sophie sat holding Lucas over shoulder, with Liv and Elliot sitting cuddled up to eachother. They were a happy little family. "Hey Liv?" Elliot said "what babe?" "are you happy, with your life right now?" he said in a whisper. She thought about her answer for a minute. "Of course I am, why?" "well I was just wondering, because before Sophie, we were having some major relationship struggles, and since we never really worked on them, I just wanted to make sure we aren't pretending to be happy if we aren't." Liv smiled. "I know what you're getting at, but trust me, things can work themselves out. And we are happy, in fact i've never been so happy in my life. I love you babe" Elliot smiled, taking her hand in his. "I love you more" he said with a hint of a laugh. "Yeah, well I love you most" Liv said.


	23. Chapter 23

Alright you guys, first of all, I do not own SVU, and second of all you have to understand that in this fanfic obviously some things are not like they are or were on the show. Liv and Elliot are together, Elliot never you enjoy!

As Sophie woke up in the morning, she noticed the absence of a certain childs crying. She brushed it off as him just being asleep still. She got up and went into his bedroom as she normally did. Every morning she got him up since she always woke up first, and mom and dad always slept in. She walked out her bedroom and noticed they were still sleeping, being that the door was closed. She tiptoed into Lucas's bedroom, and was terrified to see him not in his crib. A wave of fear crept over her as she slowly stood back from the crib and ran into Liv and Elliots room.

"You guys, where's Lucas?" If Liv wasn't awake before she was now. "What? He's in his crib?" "no he's not, I just checked." Liv rushed out of the room as Elliot grabbed his gun, not really knowing what else to do. "Oh my god he's not in there" Liv said, starting to cry. "Call the captain, get everybody searching" Elliot said to Sophie.

Sophie callled. "Hello?" Cragen said. "Oh my god captain, somebody took Lucas last night you have to put out an amber alert, and get everybody searching" She said panting. "What? Oh my god ok, are you guys ok?" "no, I don't know what to do" She said. "It's ok dear, we are going to find him, why don't you guys come in so we can figure this out." He said.

They ran into the office a mess, not knowing what to do. "In here you guys" Cragen said. "Ok,when did you last see him?" "last night, Sophie put him in his crib around 2, he wakes up a lot in the middle of the night." "yes, I sleep in the room right next to him, so I always hear him cry first. I went in when I heard him, fed him, burped him, and put him back to sleep. He fell asleep right away and didn't wake up again." "ok and when you were sleeping, did you hear anything, or see anything weird?" "no, oh wait, at one point during the night I heard the fridge open and somebody take his milk out of the fridge, I figured it was just mom or dad feeding him, but was it?" "oh my god, no we slept all night." "ok that's something"

They had the Amber alert already out, and had people at the house searching for any evidence. Liv, Elliot, and Sophie sat together in Liv's office, all silent. "I'm so sorry you guys, I should have gone out there when I heard something" Sophie said sadly. "Stop, you have nothing to be sorry for, and it's absolutely not your fault, you had no idea it wasn't one of us. Stop blaming yourself honey" Elliot said. "I just can't help but feel like it is my fault though, I even questioned it when i heard the noise, I mean i'm normally the only one to hear him when he cries, and he didn't cry, and I didn't go out there." She said. Liv looked at her, and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head. "Listen sweetheart, first of all, we will find him. Second of all, this would have happened no matter what, you had no part in it."

Back at the house Fin and Carisi were searching the house for any sort of evidence. "Soph said she heard someone in the fridge, let's dust for prints" Fin said. "Ok" Carisi said. "I'll check the crib, and look around for anything suspicious." Fin said. A few minutes later Carisi yelled "hey guys I got something!" "look, this fridge of course was covered in prints, but look at this note." the note said: if your looking for the child, good luck. "This guys an idiot, now we got your handwriting."

Back at the office, They were running prints and searching for similar penmanship. "Alright, we got a print match to a man named Henry Jones, White Male, lives in new york city on jefferson street. Let's go" Fin said. They pulled up to the house, and saw someone run out the back door. They pulled up their weapons and ran to the back of the house. "Hey we got a suspect running eastbound on jefferson" Carisi walkied. The team ran after the man as they cornered him at the end of an alley that was blocked off by squad cars.

"So, you wanna tell me why you ran?" Fin said as they sat down in the interrogation room. "Why does it matter" the man said. "Well, we were just wondering since normally running means you did something." "and what did I do?" The man said. "Well," Fin said holding up a picture of Lucas, " this baby went missing, wanna tell us where he is?" The man looked nervously at the picture. "I don't know" he said. "Are you sure about that?" Carisi said. "Because you seem pretty nervous" "I don't know, now am I in any trouble?" Carisi and Fin looked at eachother. Outside the window Cragen and Rollins were watching. "Him running is enough to keep him here overnight" Rollins said. "And I just can't help but feel that he knows everything" she said. "Well, we will keep him here overnight and see if we can get anything more out of him." Cragen said.

"We just need you to write your name, job title, and hair color on this paper please." Carisi said to the man. "Why?" he said. "Because" Fin said back.

"Alright we got a match on the handwriting, bring him in for requestioning. "So are you sure you don't know anything about this baby?" Fin says as he looks the man in the eyes. "Yes, I don't know who that is." "that wasn't my question, the question was are you sure you don't know anything?" the man looks down. "We found this note, and it matches your handwriting." Fin said. "alright, " the man says, clearly he's cracked. "Alright, I was paid to write the note, I wasn't told what it was for." Fin and Carisi look at eachother. "Ok, and who was it who paid you to write it?" "his name is jack mathin, he made me meet him in some warehouse over by 3rd street. Now can you please tell me what's going on?"

As they arrived at the warehouse they heard noises from inside. As they walked up to open the door, arms ready, they heard it. Lucas's cries. They rolled up the door suddenly and ran in to find Lucas. He was in a box, crying. Fin scooped him up, and brought him outside where he'd be safer. Suddenly they heard a loud crash and saw a man driving away in his car. Fin walkied for a chase, and instructed the teams to block off and corner him at the end of the road. Next thing they knew there was a loud screech, and they ran after him as he ran from the car.

Fin walked into the bullpen with baby Lucas, happy to see Liv and Elliots faces when they saw him. They ran out of the office and Liv held her baby close to her as she cried. "Thank you Fin" she said as he himself started to cry. "Of course babygirl, i'd do anything for you" he said back.

Liv, Elliot and Sophie all took their turns with baby Lucas, holding him, and kissing him, and there wasn't a dry eye in the place. Everybody was so happy that they had found him, the rest of the day it was all they could think about. And that night as Liv laid her baby down in his crib, she did something she never did. She thanked god for him, everything that he had given her as of late. She sat there in his nursery chair, and watched him all night, thankful for her baby boy.


	24. Chapter 24

Hey Guys! I do not own SVU. I'm getting a little bored with this story, I think mostly i'm just running out of ideas. So if you have any suggestions please please let me know. Enjoy!

The next few days were spent as a family, being thankful for eachother. Elliot had gotten some takeout and they were sitting at the couch enjoying their dinner. Sophie had Lucas laying in her lap, as he stared up at her. He was pretty awake today for a newborn. He was growing, too. He would be a month old at the end of the week. It was interesting how quickly they all got a routine down with him. Liv would take care of him during the day, then Elliot and Sophie would take turns at night to let liv sleep, and Sophie would take care of him in the morning to let Liv and Elliot sleep. Sophie loved having him in the morning, mostly because everybody else was still asleep. It gave her some time to just enjoy having a baby brother. He was a very cuddly baby, which of course she loved. He would just lay on her in the morning as she watched TV, or did homework.

Tonight he was very awake though. He kept looking around and then back up at Sophie. "So, you're grandparents are coming this weekend?" Liv said to Sophie. "Yep, and my Grandpa wants to meet Nick, so he's going to be here." "Okay." Liv said. Sophie was excited to see some family, the last time she did was months ago when she was missing them and Liv called them down for a weekend.

When they arrived it was obvious that they were close. "Hi you guys!" Sophie said as she gave them both hugs. "Hello!" Her Grandpa said looking around. "Nick's not here yet." Liv said. Elliot came and handed Sophie Lucas. "Oh my goodness, he's adorable" her grandma said. "Do you want to hold him?" Sophie asked. They sat down on the couch as Sophie handed Lucas off to her grandmother. Liv walked over. "Oh hi honey! I didn't see you there, he's just beautiful." Her grandma said to Liv. "well Nancy you know that you can see him anytime, he's your Grandson too." Liv said.

Nancy gave Sophie back Lucas as she stood up. Nick came in, dressed nicely. "Hey babe!" He said as he gave Sophie a peck on the cheek. He turned to her grandparents, "Hi! Nick, pleased to meet you" he said, shaking their hands. He was doing his best to make a good impression. "Nice to meet you too" her grandpa said. "So Nick, I've heard a lot about you! I heard that you are in the student council at school" he said. "Yes, I have been for the last 2 years, and I love it." "well that's good" her grandpa said. He and Nick talked for a while as they got to know eachother.

Liv, Sophie, and her grandmother played with Lucas, and talked about girl things, like planning shopping trips for Sophie's birthday, and getting their nails done. Everybody had fun just talking and getting to know eachother better.

They were going to be there for the entire week, so Sophie showed them to their room. Then they all met out at the table for dinner. Elliot had made steaks for dinner, and Liv had made peas, corn and mashed potatoes. They had a nice dinner, talking about family things. Although she felt stupid thinking so, Sophie couldn't help but feel like she was in a show, with everybody sitting around the table talking and laughing. She was happy.


	25. Chapter 25

Today was a special day, it was Liv and Elliots anniversary. He had it all planned out, ready as ever.

Liv woke up, expecting to have her husband next to her, but the bed was cold. She slowly got up and walked to the kitchen. "Morning" she said. "Morning babe" "hey I got a meeting, i'll be gone for a bit, see you later" he said giving a kiss on the forehead. She was confused. Did he forget?

She texted him asking what he wanted for dinner, hoping he would respond with something like what do you mean it's our anniversary I already have reservations. But instead. He simply said whatever you want. She brushed it off, hoping he had some sort of surprise.

She walked back into the bedroom to take a shower. As she turned on the water, she noticed that there was a note on the shower door. :liv, we need shampoo. Oh, she thought. Did he really forget? There was no way he forgot, or was there?

At work Elliot was calling the restaurant to make sure they knew what to do, and making sure that everything would work out. He couldn't focus on work, he was so excited. He had been planning this forever.

Liv walked out into the living room to see Sophie feeding Lucas. "Hey mom" She said. "Hey" Liv said. "Everything ok?" Sophie asked. " I don't know, I can't figure out if your dad remembered that today is our anniversary or not" Sophie knew about the plans, so she went along with it. "Oh, i'm sure he did. I wouldn't worry about it too much" she said. "Yeah, you're probably right."

Liv's phone beeped as Elliot texted her. Elliot: hey, do you know anything about a women named juanish? Of course it was work. Liv:no, I don't think so, why? Elliot: Just wondering, it's for the case. It really wasn't, he was just trying to seem normal so she wouldn't suspect anything.

Elliot packed up his stuff at work, and ran down to his car to get his clothes ready. He got in his car now in his nice clothes, and drove to the pier, being sure that he had enough time. As he got there, the sun was just starting to set, he had to get ready.

Back at home, Liv got a text from Elliot. Elliot:hey babe, I need your help on a case, we are down at the pier. Just warning you there are cameramen at the scene, so look nice. She put on a nicer outfit, and got in the car.

As she drove she couldn't help but think how weird it was that they were going to the scene this late at night, it was dark outside. She pulled up,and there was nobody but Elliot, standing at the end of the pier. She walked down to the end, and noticed he was wearing a suit. "What's going on?" she said, getting a little choked up. "Happy anniversary babe" he said as suddenly, on the beach an unseen screen lit up. He led her down and they sat together on the sand. A video that Elliot had made of their cute moments, including pictures of their wedding, honeymoon, pictures of the kids, and other cute moments played. Behind the screen a man playing a guitar was singing Liv's favorite song "you and me" by Lifehouse. She began crying. At the end, it said turn around. When she did, the beach lit up, with lights spelling the words I love you. Liv held him tight, and said "I love you babe" Then Elliot pulled out a slip of paper, and began reading it. "Liv, these last 5 years of marriage have been the best years of my life, you have showed me the true meaning of happiness. I told you when we got married that i'd do anything to make you happy. I am so happy to be with you, and I can't wait for our trip to paris next month." Liv started crying even harder as she held him tighter. "Oh my god" she said. She had always said that she'd wanted to go to paris with her true love. "I love you more than anything in the world Liv"


End file.
